Dekalb Avenue M. E. Church

The first effort to organize the Dekalb Avenue M. E. Church began in the fall of 1836 with private services at the home of John Robb on Flushing Avenue near Classon Avenue. The first sermon was preached on 18 June 1837 in a school house on Classon Avenue, and the Sabbath school was established on the same date.

The first church for this congregation was constructed in 1840 on Franklin Avenue between Park and Myrtle. The congregation was originally part of the Williamsburgh and Bushwick circuit but by 1841 had become its own station, Rev. Marvin Richardson, pastor. In 1846 the station was named East Brooklyn. A second church was constructed in 1856. In 1864, a mission was established on Tompkins Avenue.1

• 1Henry R. Stiles, ed., Civil, Political, Professional and Ecclesiastical History of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn from 1683 to 1884 (New York, N.Y., United States: W.W. Munsell, 1884), 1032.